Christmas Bonus Calculator Germany 2026 (net)

Your employer withholds the tax as if the bonus were part of one year of pay, so it is taxed at the top rate of your yearly income. It is not a special rate. Your tax return settles the final tax, and the withheld amount is often close to it.

Yes, up to the contribution ceilings. The ceilings count for the months up to the payment, and your regular salary uses part of the room first. A high earner may owe none.

It does for the ceilings. A payment in December has the full year of room left, a payment in January only one month. The calculator uses the month you choose.

For tax and social insurance, yes. Any one-off payment such as a holiday bonus, a performance bonus or a 13th salary is calculated the same way.

Class III withholds the least and class V the most on a bonus, as on the regular salary. The final tax is settled in your tax return, so the class changes the timing more than the total.

A special rule can allocate such payments to the previous year for social insurance. The calculator does not apply it, so treat results for these months as an estimate.